Clean - Laughing Hyena

You can also use this tool to gently brush the tip of the dome of each eartip, where wax is most likely to accumulate. If any tenacious wax is stuck to the tip of the dome, try using the wire loop on the reverse of the brush to gently scoop it out. Next, check the back of the receiver, where the wire attaches to it, and brush this area as well. You can use a microfiber cloth to remove any material that is dislodged during this step.

Some very old hearing aids have a long vent that runs through them entirely. This can be cleaned with a special wire that is included with the product (as well as the wire loop on the back of the hearing aid brush). Vents like this are not common on modern hearing aids.

3. Change the Wax Guard

Photograph: Chris Null

Beneath your eartips, you will generally find a small white cylinder known as a wax guard, wax filter, or wax trap. Its function is exactly what it sounds like: Preventing wax from getting into the hearing aid mechanism and clogging it up. Eventually, these wax guards will get too clogged to clean with a brush, at which point they should be replaced. Depending on your usage and the volume of earwax you have, that could mean once a month.

If your hearing aid has a wax guard, it probably comes with a kit of replacement guards, invariably contained within a small plastic case of eight or so. Flip open the case and remove one of the plastic tools from the sleeve very delicately. The replacement guard is on the other side of the tool, and it is easy to accidentally dislodge when you take the tool out of the case.

With the eartip removed from the hearing aid, insert the bare (black) side of the tool directly into the wax guard, then remove it. This will pull the old wax guard out of the hearing aid completely.

Now flip the tool around to the other side, which will have a white tip. This is your new, clean wax guard, ready for use. Carefully insert the white tip into the hole created by removing the old wax guard, then remove the tool again. It will leave the new wax guard snugly in place. Discard the used tool, replace the eartips, and you’re ready to go.

4. Change the Eartips

Photograph: Chris Null

Eventually, eartips will wear out or break, especially if you remove them frequently to clean your hearing aids, or they will just become too filthy to clean effectively. Solution: Replace them with fresh ones. Your hearing aids probably came with additional eartips in your preferred size, but when you run out, you can purchase more directly from the manufacturer (along with additional wax guard tools, if needed). Third-party eartips are available for many model hearing aids, but quality will vary considerably.

When finished, give everything another quick wipe-down with your microfiber cloth. And remember to always keep your hearing aids stored in their case (never a pocket) when not in use.

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In brief

xAI allegedly operates 26 or more gas turbines without required permits or pollution controls.
Thermal imeges show turbines running despite the company claiming they weren’t operational.
Groups estimate turbines could emit up to 2,000 tons of nitrogen oxides annually if no controls are placed.

In Memphis’s Boxtown neighborhood, where cancer rates soar up to four times more than the national average, residents face a new threat.

Thermal images allegedly show how gas turbines from xAI’s facility pump toxins into already polluted air, prompting a civil rights group to give Elon Musk’s AI lab a deadline: install pollution controls, or face a lawsuit.

In a letter, attorneys for the NAACP, via the Southern Environmental Law Center, accused xAI of running 26 unpermitted gas turbines at its Memphis supercomputer site. The company has 60 days to address the alleged Clean Air Act violations.

“We cannot afford to normalize this kind of environmental injustice,” Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the NAACP, said in a statement. “We will not allow xAI to get away with this.”

Decrypt has reached out to xAI for comment.

Data centers that supply AI computing power are power-intensive and require a constant supply of electricity. Energy consumption from AI facilities is expected to account for 49% of global data center electricity usage by the end of 2025, surpassing even Bitcoin’s energy consumption.

The civil rights organization alleges that xAI’s turbines have the potential “to emit more than 2,000 tons of smog-forming nitrogen oxides” annually, which could make it the largest industrial source in Memphis.

However, due to slower clean-energy deployments, the rising demand is primarily met by utilizing fossil fuels such as natural gas and coal.

Thermal imaging conducted in April purportedly revealed nearly all turbines were operational, contradicting xAI’s claims. The NAACP noted that proper pollution controls could reduce emissions to approximately 177 tons annually, which is less than 10% of current levels.

Local officials, including Memphis’s mayor and the Shelby County Health Department, allegedly claim that a “364-day exemption” applies to xAI’s turbines, the NAACP said, adding that despite these claims, they haven’t identified which specific exemption would cover turbines based on the size of xAI’s operations.

The emissions projections are more concerning given how Memphis ranks as the fifth most prone metro area, according to a 2025 report by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America.

If negotiations fail and a lawsuit proceeds, xAI could face injunctions halting its operations, as well as substantial fines for each violation.

Edited by Sebastian Sinclair

Generally Intelligent Newsletter

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